It is sometimes necessary to confine portions of relatively rigid articles in a close relationship during the formation of a final product, so that relative movement is limited while the final product is being formed. For example, when cylindrical radiant heating tubing is to be provided within a concrete driveway, a supporting network in the form of a wire mesh is laid in place and the radiant heating tubing is then attached to the wire mesh as it is advanced over portions of the wire mesh in a desired, usually serpentine, relationship.
Conventionally, this attachment is accomplished with wire ties or nylon ties that are wrapped around portions of the wire mesh and adjacent portions of the radiant heating tubing before the concrete is poured and cures to form the driveway. Where additional strength is required, conventional rebar may be added to the wire mesh or used in place of the wire mesh. In other types of construction, where conventional rebar is used to strengthen structures made of concrete, rebar sections are attached together using conventional ties as or before they are moved into the desired location before pouring the concrete to form the structures. Also, in some applications a polystyrene foam board is placed below the tubing and mesh.
The application of ties in the conventional method for attachment is backbreaking work that is time consuming and can produce unreliable inconsistent results where ties are attached in a haphazard way or even are skipped to minimize the labor. Prior tools for applying fastening devices (like locking clips) to attach tubing to supporting networks fail to deliver consistently satisfactory results, frequently jam, and risk striking the foam board where used, possibly impairing the functionality of the tubing. Also, prior tools cannot tolerate irregularities in the underlying surface or a soft substrate like foam board and are slow and cumbersome to use.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/465,064, filed Aug. 16, 2006, describes an apparatus for applying fastening devices in the form of locking clips that makes it possible to quickly and reliably confine portions of relatively rigid articles such as cylindrical radiant heating tubing and supporting wire mesh. The “early apparatus” of the '064 application is described below and constitutes the foundation upon which an “improved apparatus”, which is both described and claimed below, rests.
Locking clips that are particularly suitable for the above applications were recently developed by the present inventor, Peter G. Mangone, Jr., and are described in his U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,298,549; 6,606,786; 6,779,241; and pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/465,064, filed Aug. 16, 2006, the teaching and contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The locking clips described in these patents and patent application (referred to in the above-noted patents, for example, as “devices for forming an enclosure”), may be generally described with reference to FIG. 1 and can be used with the early apparatus. These locking clips are generally referred to herein as the “early locking clips.”
Thus, the early locking clips 10 of FIG. 1 include two side members, 12 and 14, having respective inner and outer side faces, 12A, 12B, 14A, and 14B. The two side members are generally curved as shown and have upper body portions 16 and 18 that are pivotally connected by a pivot member 20. Side members 12 and 14 have abutment portions 22 and 24 extending outwardly from the outer side faces of each of the members. Inwardly pivoting motion of the side members is achieved by applying a generally downward force to the top surfaces 34 and 36 of each of abutment portions 22 and 24 as the locking clips come into contact with the tubing (as shown for example in FIGS. 4B to 4D below).
Pivot member 20 may be a living hinge (as shown) or it can be another pivoting member as described in the above-noted patents. The pivot member clearance area 38 enables pivotal motion of the side members in substantially parallel planes from an open/receiving position to a closed/locked position. The side members are designed to lock in the closed position by way of locking portions at or near the distal ends of the side members. Preferably, once engaged the locking portions will be irreversibly locked. The locking portion of one of the two members may comprise a flexible end portion such as shown at 26 including a recess 30. The locking portion of the other of the two members may have a protruding end portion such as shown at 28 with a hook portion 32 configured to mate with recess 30, where the flexible end portion and the protruding end portion are located and configured so that application of force on the abutment portions moves the locking portions together whereupon hook member 32 enters recess 30 to irreversibly mate the locking portions. Other closing or locking configurations can be used.
Inner side faces 12A and 14A of members 12 and 14 define a fully circumscribed opening 168 (FIG. 4D) when the side members are in the locked position. The details of the locking member of FIG. 1 as well as other early locking members are described in the aforementioned '549, '786 and '241 patents which, as indicated earlier, are incorporated by reference.
The early apparatus is designed to move an early locking clip such as that of FIG. 1 from the open position to the closed position, to enclose, for example, at least two relatively rigid articles. The tool includes a feed track or magazine that supports a row of locking clips in their open position and urges the locking clips toward an end plate of the tool where the selected or leading locking clip is urged against the end plate. The end plate has a generally planer surface and a guide projecting outwardly from the planer surface toward the row of clips. The guide includes the first guiding surface and, spaced therefrom, a second guiding surface. In the tool, the clips are urged against the end plate so that a portion of at least one of the two members of the clip is facing one of the first and second guiding surfaces and a portion of the other of the two members is facing the other of the first and second guiding surfaces.
The early apparatus also includes means for applying force to the abutment portions of the spaced apart portions of the clip. The force applying means of this apparatus is located relative to the abutment portions so that the force applying means contacts the abutment portions of the clips to move them from the opened position to the closed position confining the two relatively rigid members between the inner surfaces of the clip.
The present invention comprises not only an improved apparatus but also an improved locking clip that is designed to be used in the improved apparatus. The early locking clips constitute the foundation upon which the improved clips rest. Thus, the improved method by which the improved apparatus is used in applying improved clips will reliably confine portions of at least two relatively rigid, generally cylindrical articles in an adjacent relationship using such a locking clip with interlocking pivoting members movable from an opened position to a closed position. The improved clip, apparatus and method: 1) engage and optimally lift, position, and contain the articles without separately raising the body of the improved apparatus away from the surface; 2) reliably deliver a single selected improved locking clip into position to confine the articles while maintaining the improved locking clip in its fully open position and without disturbing the supply of other locking clips held in the apparatus; 3) safely and efficiently secure the single, selected improved locking clip in the closed position about the articles; and 4) expeditiously release the single, selected closed improved locking clip and articles from the improved apparatus.